US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO534

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000534 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS AND G/IWI FOR KHADIAGALA 
NSC FOR DORMANDY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, ECON, ELAB, PGOV, SCUL, SOCI, KWMN, CE, Human Rights 
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: CHILD MARRIAGE NOT COMMON 
 
REF: STATE 36341 
 
1.  (U) Summary.  Child marriage is not a significant problem 
in Sri Lanka.  Under civil law, the legal age of marriage in 
Sri Lanka is 18 years old with no provision for marriage at 
an earlier age with parental consent.  While Muslims follow 
their own cultural law and may marry at an earlier age, most 
marry after age 18.  One mission interlocutor commented that 
although the incidence of child marriage is low, some early 
marriages occur in the impoverished, rural Muslim community 
in the Eastern Province and in the poor tea-estate Tamil 
community in central Sri Lanka.  There is not a  U.S. 
Government-funded program in place to combat the limited 
incidence of child marriage in Sri Lanka.    End Summary. 
 
 
Child Marriage Illegal Since 1995 
--------------------------------- 
 
2.  Until 1995, child marriage was legal (and more common) in 
Sri Lanka.  In 1995, the Government amended the penal code 
to prevent child marriage with the goal of enhancing 
protection to women and children vulnerable to physical and 
sexual abuse, according to Lawyers for Human Rights and 
Development (LHRD), a non-governmental organization (NGO) 
working on child abuse issues.  Under current civil law, the 
legal age of marriage for men and women in Sri Lanka is 18 
years-old; there is no provision for marriage at an earlier 
age with parental consent. 
 
3.  (U) Muslim and indigenous Veddah communities, however, 
follow their own cultural laws, and boys and girls may marry 
at an earlier age.  According to adolescent and reproductive 
health NGO "Policy," only 9 percent of Muslim women marry at 
an age younger than 20.  There are no reliable marriage 
statistics for the very small Veddah community. 
 
Child Marriage Not Common 
------------------------- 
 
4.  (U)  While statistics about child marriage are 
unavailable, Mission interlocutors agree that the practice is 
not a significant problem in Sri Lanka.  Harendra de Silva, 
Director of the National Child Protection Authority, told 
poloff that the average age of marriage in Sri Lanka is 26 
years old for women and almost 29 years old for men.  De 
Silva commented that although the incidence of child marriage 
is low, some early marriages occur in the impoverished, rural 
Muslim community in the Eastern Province and in the poor 
tea-estate Tamil community.  Most Muslim women, he added, 
marry after the age of 18.  Tahirih Qurratulayn, a Child 
Protection Policy Officer at Save the Children, told poloff 
that in some cases, children (from all communities) who are 
sexually abused are given to their abusers in marriage to 
lessen the stigma of the abuse.   Qurratulayn noted that this 
practice is more common in poor, rural areas and leads to 
more incidents of maternal and infant mortality.  LHRD 
reported that police in many areas advise parents of 
statutory rape victims to give their daughters in marriage to 
the perpetrator. 
 
5.  (U) There is no U.S. Government-funded program in place 
to combat the limited incidence of child marriage in Sri 
Lanka. 
LUNSTEAD